In all his conversations, he never mentioned any prejudice. Whether you talked about religious or secular affairs, he always spoke honestly and clearly, never acting pretentiously or ever lying. He also had a sharp memory and spoke of events long past as if they just happened yesterday. Nobody wanted to leave his presence; people always wanted to sit longer—they just wouldn’t get out. I’ve heard that he scolded a few people, but I’ve never met anyone who actually got scolded. I never heard him say a harsh word. At the same time, anyone who lived near him or knew him for a long time felt a sense of timidity and awe. His very presence was powerful.
The qualities of someone who has completely severed the ties of selfishness and pursues only the welfare of others may not necessarily be visible. But it is hard to find a more unselfish person than Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. When focusing on benefiting others, our own aims automatically become fulfilled without having to deliberately try. Building a monastery is a very difficult task that sometimes seems insurmountable. But most people are not aware of how many temples Tulku Urgyen built. Nor does anybody know exactly how many years he stayed in retreat, which practices he did, and the number of recitations he completed. People can vaguely say that he did it once or twice in Tibet and once in India; but other than that, no one knows. I figure he spent approximately half of his entire life doing intensive practice in retreat.
There are no accurate records of which empowerments, transmissions, and teachings he received. But he probably received most of the Nyingma Kama and Terma, all the Kagyü teachings, and the Lamdrey from the Sakya school, as well as many other lineages. Every time someone brought up a certain teaching and asked him about it, it seemed he held the transmission for it. He received an ocean of teachings. Tulku Urgyen’s unique heart practice was the Chetsün Nyingtig and Kunzang Tuktig, belonging to the Great Perfection itself. Everyone unanimously accepts him as a great Dzogchen yogi.
It is not really up to me to speak about his attainment of great accomplishment; but in 1985, after a discussion with Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, His Holiness told me that Tulku Urgyen had reached the level of “culmination of awareness.” When someone has arrived at the culmination of awareness, there is nothing more to realize other than “exhaustion in dharmata.” So he was someone who achieved the final realization of the Great Perfection. In short, it is perfectly fine to regard him as a master who was both learned and accomplished.
From a personal point of view, I can say that I haven’t met anyone superior to Tulku Urgyen. There has been no one who, in actuality, was better able to carry out the intent of Shantideva’s Bodhicharya Avatara to the letter. Without any concern for personal hardship, he always aimed to do his utmost to benefit sentient beings. He was also extremely humble and self-effacing—totally in tune with Shantideva’s bodhisattva ideal. He treated everyone, whether important or ordinary, with the same affection and attention, teaching everyone equally. In order to bring the highest benefit, he always tried to communicate in the listener’s own terms. He clearly reflected the bodhisattva ideal of ocean-like activity, not only in his teaching but also in all his conversations. While I never saw him actually give away his head, arms, or legs, as you hear about in some of the bodhisattva stories, I feel absolutely certain that he was a great bodhisattva, able to do so.
Whether he was giving empowerment, instruction, or reading transmission, he always gave his full attention, taking his utmost care to bring benefit to the recipients—particularly when giving the sublime Dzogchen teachings. He was unlike many teachers who, lacking substance, supposedly give teachings on Dzogchen while only teaching the words. When Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche imparted the pointing-out instruction, he would point out the real thing, nakedly and directly.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche’s way of giving a general outline of the ground, path, and fruition of the Great Perfection was not extraordinary compared to that of other masters. But if you asked him about one single word, no matter how subtle or profound the connotation, his answer was just as subtle and profound. Both Dzongsar Khyentse and I felt that compared to many months and years of studying books and going through analytical meditation, it was more beneficial to spend just a few hours asking questions of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and listening to his answers. I went to see him at Nagi Gompa many times and received various empowerments, but I feel the actual teachings were revealed in ordinary discussion.
These days you find people who say, “I know the teachings but I don’t like to practice sadhana in large gatherings. I don’t feel like doing all that chanting.” Honestly, there are people who have said this to me, and it surely proves their lack of realization. Anyone who truly understands the teachings, especially the Vajrayana, will also know that these teachings are implemented in group sadhana, in development and completion stage training, and in chanting. That is the application of Vajrayana, and if someone talks but doesn’t practice, then that person is definitely not learned.
Tulku Urgyen himself knew all about the encompassing activities of the Vajrayana and never belittled their application. He gave great attention to the performance of all the important rituals, including the drubchen ceremonies. In the first half of his life, in order to be of benefit to others, he learned these down to their minutest detail, never missing a single day. He also never belittled the consequence of any karmic action.
Without having to deliberately ask for donations, he managed to raise funds in an apparently effortless fashion. Tulku Urgyen was able to build all the temples and monasteries he intended to construct. Yet all these projects were totally completed on the side; you never saw them as his main aim or occupation.
In the latter part of his life, he basically abandoned all involvement in conceptual activities and didn’t put any obvious effort into building. Yet temples still seemed to rise up continuously and many tasks were accomplished. He always spent the money that came during the day, and when the sun went down, he had nothing. He didn’t keep a project schedule, and I never saw or heard about him sending out any fundraising letters, which are so plentiful these days. Even so, it seems he was able to build more temples than any other contemporary lama, no matter how much effort they put into it. So I feel confident that he accomplished his aims without hardship.
In terms of Vajrayana, he had perfected the practices of both development and completion. I know he spent at least four three-year retreats doing sadhana and recitation. Later, he remained in what you could call life-retreat at his hermitage, Nagi Gompa. The scriptures mention something called the “threefold gathering” and the “threefold blazing forth,” which is achieved upon having perfected the practices of the development and completion stages. I feel he possessed these in entirety and taught these practices from the expanse of the view.
To truly practice development and completion stages and teach them, one needs to have actualized and stabilized the view. The great dharmadhatu is free of center and edges, coming and going, outer and inner. Resting in the equanimity of rigpa, out of this great emptiness, the unimpeded display, the great compassion, appears as the deity, indivisible and complete—empty but apparent, luminous yet empty. From this unified, empty luminosity, all the characteristics of the deity appear, completely perfect. The appearance is the deity; the mantra is the self-resounding sound; the deity and resounding sound unfold from the nongrasping mind, which is recognized devoid of solid reality. A realized being knows that it is not appearing from outside but from the nature of mind, without elaborations. The deity is the empty essence, the cognizant, clear nature—nonexistent, like an illusion; free of concept; luminous; and liberated upon arising. One’s mind, free of elaboration, empty in essence, and luminous in nature is the completeness of the deity. This form unimpededly manifests as empty appearance, from which all phenomena arise; from within this state, the great display unfolds, and the mantra is recited.
The crucial point of the Nyingma teachings is that first the view is ascertained. In the new schools, the view is of the great purity, but it is considered inconceivable, as according to